I pulled another "Kim" today. What is a "Kim"? Well...usually it's when I do dumb things seemingly for other people's amusement, an Aggie moment kinda thing. In this case, my "Kim" made my dudes at work sad. I feel a little guilty about that, I really do.
Work decided this year that they wanted all of our service centers to provide a breakfast or lunch or ice-cream kinda shindig once a month or so in appreciation of our employees. This is relatively easy for most of our service centers as their head counts are significantly lower than mine. So, I am faced with the challenge of coming up with a shindig that will benefit as many of my dudes as possible without being too pricey.
My father and I decided to do a lunch this go-around. At first I thought about ordering a honey baked ham and then making baked beans, buying some potato salad, bread, and condiments. Then I saw the cost of a 1 1/2 hams and freaked out! For the same amount of money, I could go to Rudy's BBQ and get 15 lbs of meat, potato salad, beans, bread, pickles, onions, jalapenos, and iced tea. Oh...and the best part - no work on my behalf.
I ordered up the goods on Monday for pick-up today. My father and one of my dudes went to get the grub. I decided to serve it since the dudes have little to no control when it comes to food and I needed to make sure there were enough leftovers for those out on jobs today. They asked about the onions and jalapenos and I looked at everything we had and surmised Rudy's forgot to send it. Silly Rudy's. The guys were sooo disappointed. Poor dudes!
After everyone ate, I went to put away the leftovers and couldn't believe I had a whole pan left of potato salad. Those on jobs will be so excited. I decided to put the little bit of remnants from the other pan of potato salad into the full one to consolidate and imagine my shock when this:
turned out to be this:
Instead of more of this:
My "Kim" was that I assumed POJ was really POT and meant "potato salad" instead of "pickles, onions, jalapenos".
Poor dudes indeed.
The ones out on jobs will have a plethora of POJ, but hardly any POT. =/
Hope you aren't getting sick of my 30-day Challenge. This one is a fun one, so it should lighten the mood a bit!
Day 06 - Write 30 interesting facts about yourself.
Here goes 30 facts about me. Not quite sure about the interesting part...
1) I don't have a middle name. 'tis true. My parents claim they couldn't come up with anything to go with Kimberly. If they had and if it started with an "I", my initials would be K.I.M., but then the pressure would be on to meet and marry a dude with a last name starting with an M. Oye...
2) I name inanimate objects. It probably stems from the fact that I don't have a middle name. See this fella here? His name is Henry. I bought and planted him when I first moved in - almost 11 years ago. He was but a wee little babe and fit perfectly in his little bed. now...not so much.
3) I did not have my first kiss until I was 22. true, pathetic story.
4) Though I am only 1/8 Irish, I totally claim that heritage over any of the other components that make up my muttishness. This is why it hurts me so that my birthday just missed St. Patty's day by one measly day. I would have liked to have been the pride of my people.
5) I don't eat "weird" cheeses. By weird I mean bleu or goat or stinky. I realize I could soooo never be a foodie because of this.
6) I have a "thing" for garden gnomes. Here is my most recent one. My parents gave him to me for Christmas. I call him Claude.
7) I was a card carrying member of the *N Sync Fan Club once upon a time. I may or may not have gone to 4 of their concerts. don't judge me. I heart J.C.
8) I'm probably a little rusty now, but once upon a time I knew all the words to the musical Rent. I saw the original cast revival in London back in the summer of '98 and fell in love.
9) I still have all of my Christopher Pike books that I read in my youth. I would love to pass them down to my child(ren) some day. I had to babysit a lot of hours ($2-$3 per hour) to buy these books.
10) My mother once closed the car window on my face. This helped to make me who I am today.
11) If I had to choose one food to eat the rest of my life, it would be pizza. I heart it THAT much. I don't eat it very often, though. I don't have a shut-off valve where it is concerned, sadly. Ironically, as much of a carnivore as I am, I actually prefer a more vegetarian (mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, black & green olives) approach to my pizza.
12) My younger sister vomited in my mouth when she was a baby. It was sort of like a mama bird feeding her baby, but reverse and way more disgusting. May that never happen to you. I have forgiven her, I think.
13) I love to cook, but not to bake. Baking is unforgiving of my experimentation. I do, however, love to eat baked goods. Brownies and lemon bars, in particular. Neither are on my diet plan, though. *sigh*
14) I have a Beanie Baby collection. My favorite is this little otter guy. Isn't he so precious? His name is Otis. He fits in the palm of my hand.
15) I've caught 4 bouquets at weddings. yeah...that whole tradition is bunk. I promise you that by catching one you are soooo not the next one to get married.
16) I have been in two weddings of people I am no longer friends with...friendships that ended badly. I find it kind of sad that forever they will have weddings pics with me in them, yet I'm no longer in their lives.
17) I always wanted to lose a tooth at school so I could go to the nurse and get one of those cool little treasure chests to keep my tooth in until I got home. Sadly, it never happened. =(
18) Back in the day, older sister Cathy wrote and sang a song about my My Little Pony underwear I wore. Pretty sure she was mocking them and me. rude.
19) Winnie the Pooh scares me. There is a whole story that explains this from when I was about 5 years old or so, but it's a bit too wordy for this post. Just know that should I have kiddos some day, their rooms will not be adorned with this demon.
20) I went to year-round school when I lived in Denver (3rd and 4th grade). It was quite a different experience to be in school for 9 weeks, then out for 3, and repeat.
21) The color yellow makes me violent.
22) I talk ridiculously fast. When I am nervous or anxious or any other emotion other than "normal", it gets even more ridiculous. I don't even need to pause for breaths. I could consider an alternate profession as an auctioneer perhaps?
23) I hallucinated ants crawling all over my bed while on pain meds after my first of two ACL knee surgeries. good times. NOT. My brother refused to help me remove the "ants" which meant helping me change the sheets, so I stripped my bed down to the mattress and slept on a naked mattress that night. What a great brother, huh? We won't talk about all the times I saved him from the thunder and lightening!
24) I gave my first roommate in college an ulcer. It's true, just ask her. weirdo.
25) While in Killarney (Ireland) about 10 years ago, I fell down an entire flight of stairs. Alcohol combined with the fact that I never did learn the difference between my right and my left were to blame for this incident. I was a bit sore from my tumble, but otherwise uninjured, thankfully.
26) I've been dying my hair since I was 16. Who knows it's original color? Surely not I. It used to be when I got upset, it got colored or when I got bored, it got colored. Now, it gets colored when I see grey. My how times change. One thing that never changes is that my mom always thinks it's too dark.
27) I will ride any roller coaster in the world, but if you put me on a spinning ride (think: tea cups), I will vomit on you AND hate you. yeah, it's like that.
28) My ringtone on my phone is considered obnoxious by most, but I love it. It's Little Boxes which is the theme song to the show Weeds.
29) I kinda like the smell of gasoline. just sayin' (if I could do a scratch 'n' sniff here, I so would)
30) I believe in Bigfoot. Don't judge me. Aliens are an interesting concept to me. I won't confirm or deny the possibility of their existence. I had to do some research on Roswell while in college and let's just say I found it VERY interesting...
There you have it - 30 things you may or may not have known about me. Now tell me one totally cRaZy something about you UNLESS of course you are partaking in this challenge in which case I look forward to reading all 30 of your facts!
It's kind like the Civil War, but - you know - in my head.
Gotta love those voices.
Everyone has them, right?
The little angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other?
Opposing forces desperately trying to sway you in their direction...the right direction.
So, last night I put myself to bed just after 9:30pm. I set my alarm for 4:40am. I received a text at 10:00pm, but no worries as I was not yet asleep. In fact, I was having major difficulty falling asleep. It ended up being one of those nights. You know the ones I'm referring to. You don't necessarily toss and turn all night, but yet you don't feel like you got any sleep either. A weird night, I suppose. My alarm went off at 4:40 and I honestly considered resetting it for 5:45, but then what? I had already laid out my running gear (pants, long sleeved shirt, jacket, shoes, socks, iPod shuffle, road I.D., Garmin). The dogs were now awake and certain it was that time. I didn't feel well-rested, but I didn't feel tired. I might as well get up, in other words.
I put the dogs outside and the cold air blasted me. Oh wow was it cold. Was I really going to do it? Maybe I should just go to the gym instead? Or...I could just play around on the computer? No, I needed to go running. I would layer up and all would be right with the world. uh huh.
I took my thyroid pill and went onto Facebook for a bit.
If you go to the gym, it would mean warmth.
I played a few rounds of Zuma. Don't judge me.
You could just keep playing until it's time to take a shower.
I checked my email.
The gym would still mean getting a work-out in.
I caught up on Twitter.
You could just go ahead and take your shower now. Nobody would think you a loser cuz it's ridiculously cold outside.
I decided to eat a Larabar (I'm creeping into Phase 2 territory, by the way).
You don't have to do this.
I geared up.
Last chance to bail....
I headed out the door.
OMG was it cold!
You know how your shoes have those vents in them. Yeah...those vents are really great UNLESS IT'S FREAKING FREEZING OUTSIDE then, not so much. The air was penetrating my feet.
My fingers were frozen instantaneously.
Okay, maybe you should just do one mile.
Did I really just drag myself out of my nice cozy bed and my toasty warm home to run one mile?
Guess not.
There were 2 cars that passed me. I'm pretty sure they both thought me nuts. It was, after all, 24 degrees outside (14 with the wind chill) and I was clearly having a conversation with myself. ;)
My frozen hands demanded to be tucked inside my jacket sleeves. I did this. After a while, they started to sweat profusely. WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?????
I managed 2 miles. The original plan was for 3, but since there was that whole Sybil War going on before I even left the house, I didn't have the time for a 3rd mile. I stopped at the end of my driveway and tore off my jacket. Man, I was hot - burning up, in fact.
The house felt like an oven. I was being cooked. I was clearly going to be second breakfast for a bunch of hobbits. just great.
I fed my beasts dogs. I showered. I did all the other mundane ritualistic things I always do in preparation for my work day and then...I went to work.
Same batty time, Same batty channel for round 2 tomorrow morning? Um...we'll see.
I know I've mentioned before how undisciplined and unruly I am. It's true. I'm not proud of this, mind you. I think it has something to do with my hair. What chance did I have? There must be a direct correlation! If you too suffer from frizzy, crazy mop-top syndrome AND you lead a well-balanced/managed life then please keep it to yourself. I'd rather live in my la-la land of denial than face the facts that I'm just lazy and disturbed! ;)
Now that we got that out of the way...
I don't sleep anymore. It's not that I can't sleep, it's just that I don't. I stay up to ridiculous hours and then I wake up at the crack of dawn. I only get around 5 hours of sleep per night. This is not healthy. This is not conducive to being productive.
What am I doing up so late? I'm hesitant to even tell you. It's so ridiculous. I'm not watching TV or movies. Oh no. My DVR is getting ridiculously full! I have Season 3 of Big Love and Season 4 of Dexter all brand new in their packages fresh from Christmas just waiting to be watched. I'm not cleaning or working out. I'm not reading or taking a nice leisurely bath. Nope. I'm playing games. Mostly Zuma Blitz and Rummikub. See...pathetic. I play Zuma because I'm really good at it. I typically walk away from the week with the #2 score. The #1 score always goes to a girl who went to high school with me. I have threatened to drop her as a FB friend so that I can be #1. She thinks I'm kidding. I'm kinda kidding. =D I play Rummikub because it's mostly a game of strategy (there is a bit o' luck involved). The really stupid thing is that I find myself getting really really intense playing Zuma and getting really really angry playing Rummikub. Aren't games supposed to be fun? I think the work-up of my emotions so late at night prevents me from feeling tired which leads me to staying up so late which leads me to playing later and...I think you get the idea. It's only after one of the dogs puts herself to bed and the other one whines incessantly for hours that I finally give in and go to bed.
My eyes have bag ladies under them. Yes, that's right. Bag ladies.
So, what to do? I could, of course, just not play the games. This isn't likely considering my total lack of discipline. I could, say, limit the amount of time I spend playing the games. I could incorporate other activities in my life - a, dare I say, balanced life of sorts - tv, reading, cleaning, SLEEPING, etc like I used to have. I could give myself a bed time.
Anyway, I've decided the best thing to do is to give myself weekly goals established on Sunday or Monday (depending on when I get the post out) and then to follow up on them the next week. These goals will not be just about exercise, but all walks of life since apparently I need lots and lots of help.
This week's goals:
Monday - make/prep my meal for the week, clean the kitchen, play my games for 1 hour, watch one TV show from my DVR, run 3 miles, read one chapter from my book while taking an Epsom Salt Bath, in bed by 10:45pm
Tuesday - up at 5:45am, play my games for 1 hour, clean the floors and guest bathroom, watch two TV shows from my DVR, do kettlebell DVD, read one chapter from my book while taking an Epsom Salt Bath, in bed by 9:30
Wednesday - up at 4:30am, run 3 miles, clean master bath, play my games for 2 hours, watch one TV shows from my DVR, read one chapter from my book while taking an Epsom Salt Bath, in bed by 10:45pm
Thursday - up at 5:45am, play my games for 1 hour, watch one TV show from my DVR, run 3 miles, read one chapter from my book while taking an Epsom Salt Bath, in bed by 10:30pm
Friday - up at 5:30am, play my games for 2 hours, watch two TV shows from my DVR, x-train for 30 min to an hour, in bed between 11pm and 12am.
Saturday - up between 6am and 7am, run 6 miles, do as I please so long as I'm in bed between 11pm and 12am.
Okay, fingers crossed I can stick with the plan to sing "Bye, Bye, Bye" to these bag ladies beneath my eyes. Ready, set, GO!
Shhhh....don't tell. I'm such a cheater! I had good intentions, I really did. On Monday, I went to the grocery store to purchase 3 dozen eggs, mayo, mustard, and dill relish all to prepare deviled eggs for my work Christmas party which is Thursday. The plan was to come home from work tonight and to get to boiling, peeling, slicing, de-yolking, making my mixture, and then packaging it all up for construction tomorrow. BUT then...Linda happened. You know...the younger sister who calls me pretty much every day on her way home from work. She made mention that she was talking to my mom (who is also making 2 or 3 dozen deviled eggs for my work Christmas party) and that she thinks we are both nuts and that we should just go buy those Eggland's Best pre-boiled and peeled from Kroger or H.E.B. I laughed her off...I mean...that's a cRaZy idea....I already bought the 3 dozen eggs sitting in my fridge. That's soooo lazy. Everyone makes fun of me when I buy THOSE eggs for my own personal consumption. Whatever would people think of me if they know my laziness knows no bounds?!
I caved.
On my way home from work, I accidentally pulled into the Kroger parking lot and somehow ended up inside the store staring at the egg case. I decided it was soooo worth $14.34 of my own money to not have to deal with the labor intensive work (not to mention the frustration) of peeling 36 eggs.
So, my mom, dad, brother-in-law, sister, a few former employees, and 50 of my dudes will all be lunch munching on deviled eggs, Pappa's BBQ catering, frito pie (with my mom's homemade chili), cupcakes, pecan pie, coconut cream pie, cherry pie, and my mom's pumpkin pie, apple pie, lemon meringue pie, and some cookies.
Quite the spread, huh?!
So tomorrow is gonna be a bit nuts. I have to go into work with my bags packed for our flight. I will work quite diligently for a couple of hours, leave work to come home and gather my doggies to take to the "doggie hotel". After I drop them off (a heart-wrenching experience), I will return to work to help with final party preparations. We will then eat our meal, laugh, and have a great time. I will then have to get back to that diligent working thing (boo) before we leave for the airport. It's a bit crazy leaving our upper 70s/low 80s and arriving in the low 20s. I'm gonna be freezing!
What you probably don't know is that this wasn't my first speed dating rodeo. Oh no! The first time was called pre-dating and I did it while doing the whole ever-so-healthy on again / off again thing with my ex-boyfriend. No worries....it was during the off again phase. A friend participated in the event with me. When we were done, we met up with my off again boyfriend and some of his friends and then hung out for the rest of the night (and then he became my on again boyfriend once again). See...healthy!
Since I had done the whole deed before, I did have somewhat of an expectation in my mind - not for actual results, but for the set-up, I suppose. That was my first mistake.
My second mistake was to wear heels. This kinda coincides with the first mistake which you will learn more about in just a second.
My third mistake was believing what I hear and not questioning specifics.
I'm sure there are more, but for purposes of maintaining my self-esteem, we will cut it at 3. =/
Okay, so here goes...
The speed dating was offered by Eight Friends Out. Their normal concept is to put 8 people at a table together for dinner - 4 guys and 4 girls. Before dessert is served, they switch out the guys from another table so that you get to meet even more people. Normally, the dinners are broken into age groups of 30s/40s and 50s+. Obviously I attend the 30s/40s events and I'm always so disappointed when it turns out I'm on the younger end of things. The last dinner I attended, in fact, I ended up sitting next to a *gentleman* in his upper 40s (nice...NOT) and he made some stupid comment about not being interested in younger women because he found them to be boring...they lacked the capability to have stimulating conversation, etc. WHAT?! I mean first of all, it's just a terribly rude comment to say considering it's quite obvious you are sitting next to a younger woman. Secondly, to make such a blanket statement is so ignorant, it's obnoxious! Finally, I'm bored listening to you talk, so SHUT-UP (thank you). So, yeah...needless to say, I took a hiatus from attending events until last night.
Last night called out to me because it was an event for 20s/30s and not a dinner. I didn't really have any high hopes for it. I figured if anything else, it should be entertaining. I really can't even say that much. I arrived about 15 minutes late, purposely, and all dolled up. I looked good, if I do say so myself! The event was held at Arcodoro's, a restaurant I had eaten at once before with a friend. I got my name tag and was told by the organizer that the drinks were on special for us for $4. Nice! I went to the restroom to make sure I didn't have raccoon eyes from my dramatic smokey eye effect, and then went to the bar to order my vanilla vodka and soda. It was more like soda with a splash of vanilla vodka, but hey...$4, so whatever. I started a tab. While waiting for my drink, the organizer informed me to line-up once I was done. WHAT?! Line-up? We doin' a little line dancin'? Um...okay. So I looked behind me and sure enough...the girls were lined up on one side and the dudes were lined up in front of them - all were standing. Hmmm...the first time I did speed dating, the girls were spaced out sitting around various nooks and crannies of the rented out bar the event was located in and the dudes made the rounds. It was...kinda comfortable. This was like a group of team players lined up to do the hand slap and say "good game!" Let's give a shout-out to wearing heels while sporting a pelvic stress fracture, shall we? Had I known I was going to be standing in them for an hour+ (and given additional information for the evening), perhaps I should have just gone with my flip-flops or rocket dogs???
There was a table full of name tags for people who signed up, but didn't show up. To think our little area could have been more crowded. yay. So, there were 5 more girls than guys. Two of the girls stood all unapproachable off to the side awaiting their turn to "date" while the other two girls and I dated each other until it was our turn. Eventually, I just dated one of them until I was left dating myself. That was an awkward 6 or 8 minutes. I decided to make nice with myself and buy me a refill. Ah...another soda with a splash of vanilla vodka. Oh look...it's now my turn to date. There were 8 guys in total. They were all perfectly friendly and polite. Some were easier to talk to than others, none worth mentioning specifically. While dating my 4th dude, they decided to bring out the appetizers. It's really cool talking to someone for a precious 6 or 8 minutes while stuffing cold-that-is-supposed-to-be-hot food in your mouth. Yeah, it was like that. After dating my last next-ex, I returned to the bar for my 3rd and final soda with a splash of vanilla vodka. The organizer called out to me and asked me how I felt it went. I told her it wasn't what I expected, that I had done it once before and it had been better organized, BUT that it was nice to see younger people finally (yep...always trying to see the silver lining). She bounced some ideas off of me for future events to get more of a turn-out. I then sauntered on over to a group of girls. We chatted for a bit and then they invited me to join them at Taco Milagro for some late night dinner. First, I had to go close out my bar tab. Imagine my shock when my bill was $24.75. I inquired about the $4 drink special and was informed that was only for four specific drinks. Oh, nice to know. Perhaps if you are going to charge $8.25 for a drink, it ought to be vanilla vodka with a splash of soda. Just sayin'. I then went to the organizer and asked her about it. Yep..oops...she meant to tell me it was for four specific drinks. lovely. =/
I met the 3 girls at Taco Milagro and enjoyed some food, iced tea, and music. I wish I could say I enjoyed the company, but well...one of them was friendly...another one okay, and the 3rd was anti-social. Ah well...
So there you have it. I dated 2 girls, myself, and 8 dudes last night all while paying a hefty price for spunky club soda and further agitating my pelvis (as in I'm a new kind of crippled now) - all in the name of trying to find my heart's companion. Never a dull moment in this 30-something year old's life...
So, this is a blog first for me and it is most exciting! I got "tagged" to answer some questions. My tagger was MsGigglepuss from Just a Bit Wicked. I, in turn, shall "tag" some bloggers of my own with some new questions when my questions are answered.
So here are my questions and answers:
1. What is your favorite holiday and why? Any special traditions?
I have to go with Thanksgiving because it's the one holiday that I have my entire immediate family together every year combined with a mini vacation. The irony of the whole thing is that it is the furthest thing from a traditional Thanksgiving that you could possibly imagine. For the past 14+ years, my family has gone to Las Vegas to celebrate. We always meet for 2 meals a day, we go see movies, we shop, we gamble, we see shows... We hit up a killah buffet for our Thanksgiving meal! haha! This coming Thanksgiving, we are changing it up a bit, however. My parents have rented us a huge house in Orlando and we are doing Disney and Universal Studios instead - for a whole week!
2. What is your go-to kickass song in your workout playlist?
Just one? Oye - there are so many that really kick me into gear when I hear them! My younger sister Linda told me I had to put Miley Cyrus's "Can't Be Tamed" onto my iPod the other day. Honestly, I didn't listen to it before uploading it (that's trust for you). It came on while I was doing my 13.1 miles ON THE ELLIPTICAL on Sunday and it really put that pep in my step, so it just might one of my new faves! Ya gotta keep it fresh, ya know?!
3. If you were forced to only watch one TV show or movie ever again until you die (can choose shows no longer on the air, and you can watch it again and again, but nothing else), what would it be and why? Defend your choice!
I will go with a tv show because there are many episodes to it (versus watching one 2-hour movie). I could, for the record, defend a movie choice, though! Okay, so my tv show is...LoSt! Big shocker for those of you who know me IRL, right?! I love(d) that show! I was only disappointed in the ending because it ended. I was intrigued with each and every episode and it kept me guessing. There were so many literary reference weaved into the story line - so many great characterizations - it was so well cast! Oh...just writing about it makes me miss it!
4. Where is your favorite vacation destination?
Playa del Carmen! I love me my European vacations, I really do, BUT they are working vacations. You have to go, go, go...see, see, see and by the time you are done, you need a vacation to recover from your vacation. Playa is soooo close - a 2 hour plane ride away to tropical paradise. I just set myself up with one of those all-inclusives and prepare to be lazy for 5+ days. It's heaven on earth with a fruity tropical drink on the side for good measure. (pic taken from my last trip there)
1. What is your favorite holiday and why? Any special traditions? Favorite holiday food item? (had to steal this one - 'tis the season and all that jazz (but I tweaked it slightly))
2. Have you read a great book lately that you would recommend? Tell us about it!
3. What is your dream vacation? Money is not an issue. Time off of work is not an issue. Where do you go? Why?
4. Looking back at 2010 so far...what are you most proud of?
Before we get into the details of the race, my little buttercups, let's discuss the events leading up to it, shall we?! This is a bit long winded, so I apologize in advance...
So, as previously discussed I've been having some awful headache issues and an occasional bout of the dizzies. I once again awoke in the middle of the night (2:02am to be exact) with the head pounding very sarcastic yay here>. I rummaged through my medicine cabinet...er drawer...and discovered some slightly expired migraine OTC medication. What's your take on expired medicinal products? I personally don't buy into it...I think it's just the manufacturer's way of getting you to buy more - or at least that's what I'm going with here. So, I popped 3 of them (shhhh...recommended dosage was 2, but I wasn't messing around with this hammering) and then I did something bad. Instead of returning to the comfort of my bed, I went to my laptop to check on how my job was coming along in Tokyo (Sorority Life on Facebook). Uh oh...only 16 minutes and 22 seconds before I could collect my earnings. I could just go back to bed and collect the yen when I awoke again, but where would be the fun in that, so I decided to go to Las Vegas (Mafia Wars on Facebook) in the meanwhile and fight mob bosses and the lot until my 16 minutes and 22 seconds were up. When the time was right, I collected my yen and then I thought about how I had just enough to buy this really cute Japanese print dress for 38,000 yen, so I bought it and then I had to try it on my little Sorority pledge, but then I kinda thought it made her hips look big, so I put her in an olive green Kimono instead with a pink sash. Ah...that was the ticket. Anyway, once I found the perfect shoes, the right hairstyle, and the appropriate accessories, the fashion show was over and I retired once again to my bedroom not so much because I was tired, but really just to shut my little doggies up who were both whining (one of them, Delilah, had already gotten out of bed to come check on me). It was now 2:39am and my alarm was set for 4:30am.
I tossed and turned and tossed and turned some more. I had one of those laugh out loud moments, too. The other day there was some dialog going on amongst my brother-in-law Craig, my double cousin Danielle, and I (or is it me?) on Facebook. Craig ended the dialog by saying, "Too late. Head is Uge!" This was making fun of my father who has a special problem (he likes to call it a disability) and can't pronounce the Hs in words beginning in H for some reason. So, what made me laugh out loud was I thought of a sentence - How long is the flight to Hawaii? Only I removed all the words starting with Hs, which made it Ow long is the flight to Awaii? Maybe you would have to have been there with me or just know my dad to appreciate this. Regardless, I think what made me laugh the most was how just earlier that evening, double cousin Danielle was insisting that 2:30am is hilarious. I told her I hardly doubted that was the case, but now I think she might be on to something... The dogs were getting a bit annoyed with me - it was obvious by their big sighs and their exasperated switching sleeping positions. Whatever, dogs. I'm in charge here and clearly so mature. I decided to go to the bathroom. One of the dogs (Delilah, again - shocker) decided to steal my spot on the bed. She was removed, no worries. I settled back down and must have eventually fallen asleep until that dreaded alarm sounded off just a short while later.
I got up, got ready, ate a whole wheat bun lightly toasted with Justin's almond maple butter and banana, stretched A LOT - especially that IT-band, and eventually headed out the door to the park. Meyer Park has two sides and my team always meets on the one side in particular. This side, for some reason, was closed. There were cops there informing us that we must go to the other side. This was weird. In my head, I had decided there had been a murder on the other side. This goes to show you how morbid I am. One of my teammates thought that perhaps there was going to be some sort of event later that day. Another teammate thought maybe there had been a drug bust. Regardless, it annoyed us because our routine was thrown off. Our coach gave us our swag bags which had our bibs, d-tags, tshirt, and some goodies in it. I went to put the bag in my car after securing my bib and d-tag, and then I started doing some mileage. I did about 1.75 miles at the park and then headed out towards the high school. I found the route the 5K was taking and kept asking the volunteers if I was winning. They laughed! I hit the mile 2 table and they even offered me water - bless their hearts I was in need and took them up on their offer. I continued all the way to the high school and it ended up being 3 miles. I got there in just enough time to use the facilities and I found Lauren and her sister, Sarah. I was sad that I somehow lost my spare piece of gum, so that meant I had to run without it. This sucked royally because that's how I control my breathing and how I stay hydrated even though some people (younger sister Linda WHAT?!) beg to differ.
I started off strong. My first mile was 12:36. Yes, this is good for me. I know...le sad compared to so many others. ha! I'm okay with being a turtle. Remember that my motto is slow and steady to finish the race. I was a bit annoyed, however, because there were bunches of high schoolers running the race (that's not the annoying part) and some of the girls were just plain obnoxious. They would walk in a line blocking faster walkers or runners and then they would all the sudden start sprinting just to stop and walk again. They were rowdy and I guess what it boils down to is that they just didn't take it seriously. I'm all about having fun, don't get me wrong, but to me...a race is a big deal and they were just doing it so nonchalantly that it kind of demeaned the event, if that makes any sense. Maybe my age is showing? Ah well... I'm glad nobody made me take off my illegal headphones (yes, they tried to say they weren't allowed for insurance purposes - first race I've seen that).
I ran mile two MUCH SLOWER and with half the heart. My energy was diminishing under the burning sun. After my Garmin read mile 2, I walked to the water station. It was cute when I picked up a water and the one kid said, "I remember you!" Kinda made my moment, you know?! After I finished my water, I tried to start running again, but I got dizzy. Ugh! Not again!!!! I walked it out for a quarter of a mile, then tried to start running again and then came the charlie horses - it was like deja vu from my half marathon. I walked it out for another quarter of a mile or so and then started a ridiculously slow jog towards the finish line. I had to catch myself from stumbling over my own feet 5 times - NOT COOL, but eventually I finished the race with the worst 5K time I've ever had. =( Then, I drank tons of water cuz dang...it was HOT and HUMID. Oh and my finishing song was Jason Mraz's "Mr. A-Z".
It was my hottest 5K to date. It was also the only 5K I've done where I've run 3 miles BEFORE running the race. I've also been fighting these headaches all week. Yes, I know...all just excuses...
Instead of running back to the park to get my car, I thought it best to ask Lauren and Sarah to give me a lift back and they were so sweet to do just that. This race marked the 4th race Lauren and I have run together! Doesn't look like we will have any more opportunities this year with me training for The Houston Half on October 24th and the Houston Chevron Full on January 30th while Lauren is training for the Nike Women's Half on Oct. 17th.
Okay, enough of my ramblings...I know this was a VERY long post. How's your weekend looking?
Oh eHarmony....I wish I could say we have a love/hate relationship, but really I just hate you and it's quite clear how you feel about me by the care and concern you take in finding me the perfect match.
Let's take a look at the last week as a prime example of your lack of respect for me, shall we?
3 potential gentlemen callers initiated contact with me in the past week. It was shocking, to say the least. Very rarely do I have any initiations at all (and God forbid I were to do the initiating), so this was practically reason for celebration or it at least warranted a kazoo and a party hat. Oh...but wait...then the reality of it slapped me in the face and I now have 0 potential gentlemen callers.
Before I tell you how it all went down, let's review your communication stages:
#1 - 5 multiple choice questions are sent out and answered by each party #2 - 10 "must haves" and 10 "can't stands" are selected from lists of many and sent out by each party #3 - 3 open ended questions are sent out and answered by each party #4 - open communication
Okay, now that we have that out of the way, let's get back to business.
Gentleman caller A terminated contact after I asked him the 3 open ended questions I chose from the list of many provided by you, eHarmony. I'm thinking he either didn't like the questions I asked or he had moved onto greener pastures. Oh well....his loss. I'm great!
Gentleman Caller B's contact was terminated by me after he sent his "must haves" and "can't stands". He has probably been the 3rd or 4th guy who has initiated contact with me over the past several months who has literally included "can't stand overweight people" in their list. Here's the deal....I totally respect the fact that everyone has their preferences for what they are physically attracted to. That being said, we are not 8 years old anymore and I think you just choose people according to that preference and that you should not need to say that you "can't stand" any one group of people. I guess I should be thankful that by looking at my many pictures posted, they did not think me to be overweight, but the truth of the matter is that I am still overweight. Also, even if I wasn't, the statement would still offend me and it would make me wonder if ever I put on 5 or 10 lbs if I would be criticized accordingly. So, to him and others like him I say...good riddance and grow up!
Gentleman Caller C's contact was terminated by me after the open communication round began and fizzled. I understand I have a vivacious personality, eHarmony, but that does not mean I want a stick in the mud. Just in case you didn't catch our conversation, here goes:
Email #1 from GCC (him) to K (me) Now comes the fun part. I am currently working full time and going to school part time. Email #2 from K (me) to GCC (him) Hi Gentleman Caller C,
So being a shipping director...does that mean you are involved with operations/planning/dispatching? I have my hand in that pot at my work.
What are you studying at school?
Kim Email #3 from GCC (him) to K (me) I do all the shipping, packaging, and take care of the operations of the shipments, as well as maintain the inventory counts, process refunds and other things like that. I am currently a History major working towards my Associates degree in Criminal Justice.
So, yeah eHarmony...needless to say, I closed out ol' GCC. I did this only cuz my mom taught me a long time ago that if I couldn't say anything nice, I shouldn't say anything at all. What I really wanted to reply back to him was: UM...yeah...thanks for asking ME questions, GCC. Thanks for your incessant *interesting* chatter all about YOU, GCC. Oh...and I'm confused about what *fun* part you were referring to in your first email to me,GCC.
Thanks again eHarmony for making me yet another perfect match. =/ I'd say your days are limited, but we both know I'd be lying yet again, so...whatever.
I can prove it since I can already feel that you doubt my sincerity.
The hill stole my car clicker. How's that for being hellish? Yeah, that's what I thought.
Are you thinking I have a habit of losing my keys since it's happened once before? Well first of all, that was when the key fell off the key ring and I couldn't start my car - I could get in it. This time I purposely locked my key in my car and I took the clicker with me and put it in my trusty Nike shoe pocket that turned out to be not so trusty. Well, to be fair to Nike...the hellish hill stole the clicker, so Nike never really stood a chance.
I had my second marathon training session at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning. Once again, I knew it wasn't going to be pretty when I only had a little over 4 hours of sleep AND I woke up feeling gunky courtesy of allergy issues AND the humidity was thick in the air. We were scheduled for 4 miles and it wasn't going to be a simple 4 miles as in run the course at the park...instead it was all kinds of cRaZy which meant I was sure I was going to get lost. Thankfully, the peeps in my group are quite considerate despite the runners being significantly faster than me and they made sure I knew where I was going. We basically ended up in a church parking lot and there is a hill there and we had to run up and down the hill 5 times. I don't do hills - like EVER - and when I do, they make me grumpy. I did them and then I was grumpy. Upon completion of THE HILL work, the half marathoners went back the way they came while the marathoners had to then run around the parking lot and then go back the way we came. Once we finished the rest of our route, we had to do one timed mile. I didn't have as quick of a timed mile as last week, but I didn't expect to considering I was having some breathing issues (courtesy of the allergies and the humidity).
Once I returned to our table to get my drink, I went to go get my clicker out of my shoe pocket because I had to get a check out of my car to pay the Bearkat Bash ladies for the 5K we will be doing on September 11th. Come sign up with me!!! Anyway, imagine my horror to discover the clicker wasn't there! I panicked and freaked out, but one of the ladies that was at the picnic table said she thought one of our coaches had found one and shouted out his name as he was walking over to the bleachers where the rest of our group was. He shouted back that it was over by the cooler on the table and voila - there it was! I have never been so glad to see my little clicker, y'all.
I knew it was the hill - I knew it stole my clicker! I got confirmation later, but I just want it known that I knew.
Then I walked over to the rest of the group that was having a lecture on "body in motion" by one of our coaches, my mentor. It was there that I found out one of the girls, Rachel, had actually found my clicker. She's awesome! It was on the hill. See, I did know. Imagine if I had to go back and retrace my steps?! She also gave me a book recommendation called The Glass Castle. It's a memoir. I ordered it on Amazon.com, but haven't read it yet since I'm currently reading The Other Bolyn Girl and Marathoning for Mortals.
Lesson Learned: Secure my clicker via a more reliable means - I'm thinking zippered pocket or my SPIbelt.
Have you ever lost your key or clicker during a run? Are you reading a good book?
or rather I could be one...you know...if stalking was considered cool.
or rather...I'm an excellent/efficient user of my resources.
or rather...I wonder how Nancy Drew solved all those mysteries without the use of modern technology...
So yeah...onto what inspired this post.
Yesterday a hot guy walked into the office. He was tall...very very tall and very good looking. I couldn't see whether or not he had a wedding ring and brother-in-law/assistant Jay was of no use to me in this department CLEARLY (older sister Cathy will need to coach him on this). Although, let's face it, even if he didn't have a wedding ring it's not like I would have all the sudden grown some guts and done anything about it. haha! Anyway, the guy was a sales person and started giving his spiel. Jay politely told him our standard line that everything is handled in our headquarters, but then I piped in that we currently use their company for our copy machine. He looked behind Jay at our copy machine and saw his company's sticker posted proudly upon the machine and recovered quickly with the "oh yes you do, so really I just stopped by to see how everything was going..." It was cute and we all laughed. He left his little flyer with his contact information in case we needed him and went on his merry way. When he left, Jay said, "he was tall." I added, "and hot." Then Jay noticed the guy's name and wondered whether or not he was related to a famous gymnast. So...alas...that began my stalking...er...researching.
I started with her, but could not find any information regarding whether or not she had a brother. I then, on a whim, googled him. He did, after all, have a unique name. What to my wondering eyes should appear, but a whole bunch of statistics on him - I learned his birth date (a year younger than me), his height (6'8, by the way), his weight, the fact that he had played basketball for the University of Houston Cougars and then he even played European Professional basketball for a while. Wow!
So, yeah...I'm a stalker, but only when it comes to researching people via the internet. I never go on stakeouts or anything quite so dramatic as that!
Come on, admit it - have you ever cyber-stalked someone???
Are you just *dying* to know what in the world "High tAcKy Texas Tea" is? Well...let me fill you in, but first a side step. My mom, her sister, my dad, his brother (did I mention that my mom's sister is married to my dad's brother?) and my two double cousins (Danielle and Nicole) all went to Ireland and England on vacation at the beginning of this month. Whilst my father and uncle stayed behind in Ireland to play golf, my mom, aunt, and cousins moved on to London. On their list of "must haves" was a visit to The Brown's Hotel to have High Tea. They learned all kinds of important details - the proper order of the various courses of a proper High Tea, for example, and the reason why the pinky finger is stuck out during the drinking of hot tea (for proper balance, of course).
On Monday evening, I was minding my own business when I received this text message from double cousin Danielle?
D: Will you join us for tea at work on Thursday?
My response:
K: We are having tea at work on Thurs?
The rest of the convo:
D: We are.
K: Well that is random, but yes...I shall join u.
D: Remember proper attire is required.
K: Oh but of course.
D: We will mark u down c u then.
So, I really had no idea what I had agreed to. I did, however, discover the next day that my brother (who lives in D.C.), older sister Cathy, brother-in-law Jay, my father, and cousin Courtney (who lives in Columbus, OH) were also invited. Courtney wanted to know if she could phone in, but Danielle informed her cell phones were not allowed during high tea (even a tAcKy one in Texas). Eddie declined. Cathy declined. Courtney was forced to decline, apparently. My dad initially declined, but somehow managed to join us...he said my mom made him, but my mom said she was surprised he partook in the activities. Hmmmm.... Why was younger sister Linda not invited even though she wouldn't be able to skip out on work to join us? No one knows. I had Danielle invite her Wednesday night, but Linda said she was not happy about a pity-vite. Jay did join us, though.
Okay, so what is the proper order for the courses of a proper High Tea?
Finger Sandwiches - we had 4 varieties - tuna, egg salad, cucumber, and tomato on whole wheat bread with the crust cut off.
Fruit - we had strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries
Scones - we had blueberry (with butter and our choice of raspberry or apricot sugar free jam)
Cookies - we had a selection of delightfulness like little wafers, chocolate covered pretzels, shortbread...
Cake - we had a selection of lemon squares, brownie/cheesecake squares, and Texas sheet cake from RJ Goodies.
What makes a High Texas Tea tAcKy? Well...you might not be able to tell from the pics, but the table cloth and the plates are paper and the "silverware" is plastic. The tea party was held in the breakroom at my work. Oh and I almost forgot about the British bloke (one of my employees) who came into my office singing "Tea for Two" and then played me the Doris Day version on his Droid. This was all after he asked my mother if she would be serving us clotted cream. Yeah...I have no clue what clotted cream is and I'm sure glad it wasn't present at our tea.
What was lacking in atmosphere was completely made up for in heart. My mom, Nicole, and Danielle did a wonderful job of bringing the tea party to me (well...and to my dad and Jay, too, I suppose). If you are wondering if this meal was South Beach friendly, the answer is NO. The sandwiches were...and, of course, the fruit, but the rest of it was...ahem...carbo-loading! haha! Yes, that's what I'm calling it and I double dog dare you to call me out on it considering I am now slightly over 2 days away from my big race!
Here are a couple more pics for your viewing pleasure:
my cute mom!
Double Cousin Nicole (note the pinky is OUT)
Double Cousin Danielle
My mom and dad (note - the pinky is OUT)
So, this was our inaugural High tAcKy Texas Tea. I did tell my dad (since he seemed to enjoy himself SOOOO much) that arrangements could be made for me to serve high tea every Thursday, but I don't think he was thrilled with the idea.
Have you ever had a tea party or been to a tea room? Good times, my friends...good times!
I have missed you so. I don't understand where the confusion came into play. Perhaps I misunderstood when I read Phase 1's rules of the South Beach diet and accidentally applied them to Phase 2. Maybe the powers that be updated the diet and came to realize you are not the enemy. Regardless, I have withheld from eating you for well over a year and I'm sure your feelings have been hurt. Do you have any idea how many times I have had to walk past you in the grocery store with sad, wanting eyes? Oh...and then there have been my races...they always have you at the after race parties and I had to decline even though you would have been a perfect food choice to help replenish my body. It's bad enough to have to walk on by the bagels and the pizza, but you, too?!
We already know that I'm quite picky where you are concerned - I wouldn't dream of eating you with any kind of noticeably brown spot or mushy tenderness present. I would apologize, but is it not best to be up front and honest as opposed to wasteful? Oh how I've longed to have my "grab it and go fruit" on so many occasions. I now have so many plans for us to be reunited again soon - in fact I will be headed to the store shortly to bring home a much needed supply of you.
Just think - this is perfect timing as your kind will definitely be represented at my half marathon in two weeks from today and I will definitely be able to partake in the eating of you instead of longingly watching everyone else enjoy you! yay!
This is going to be the rekindling of a beautiful relationship, bananas! I owe it all to younger sister Linda and her hubby Craig for not pulling a "me" and speed reading through The South Beach book. Instead, they noticed this very important oversight on my behalf!
Love,
KIMpossible
Update: Just researched this a little further and found out I'm not an over-looker. The South Beach Diet Supercharged updated the food list based on the fact they expected their diet followers to be upping their exercise. Adding back in a medium sized banana to Phase 2 was part of the update (source here). Ahhhh...redemption!
My dad offered me a deal. He knew we were too busy at work to have someone drop him and my mom off at the airport, so he had looked into limos and they were ridiculously expensive, so he gave me cash and told me he would pay for our family lunch on Saturday if I could get his car picked up from the airport sometime on Saturday. I explained to him that I could get his car picked up AND manage to pay for my own meal, but he wouldn't have it. I think he also thought that he was encouraging the family lunch tradition, but truth be told...we always do family lunch even when my parents can't be there and if you tune into my blog often, you know that my parents travel frequently. I also pre-purchased Eclipse tickets for younger sister Linda, her hubby Craig, and I for Saturday's 2:50pm showing.
Saturday...
I got a work call that one of my helpers lost his wallet which meant he needed replacement cards (payroll and road). Great - this meant a trip up to the office at some point either this day or before noon on Sunday. Blech.
It was decided family lunch would be at Los Cucos. We picked Los Cucos because we don't get to eat family lunch there very often since our father has a self-proclaimed chip problem. Linda and I figured we had just enough time to go to the airport to pick up our father's vehicle while Craig went back to their house to pick-up their dog, Coco and to pack since they were "vacationing" at my parent's house for the weekend. My father had left me very specific instructions as to where we should be able to find his SUV. Linda, it was decided, would drive it, though she was VERY uncomfortable with this notion since she doesn't drive an SUV and she doesn't ever drive to or from the airport and didn't think she could find her way back to the house or the movie theater (if we didn't have enough time to make it to the house before the movie). I reminded her that the car had a built in GPS and then she felt better. So, I knew we were in trouble when the one parking garage was blocked off and we were forced to enter into another one. This was was blue and brown and we needed purple. After touring it and paying our $2.00 for nothing, we figured out we didn't have enough time for another tour, so we headed straight for the theater. We called Craig to discover that he apparently got sidetracked while on his mission and also wasn't going to have enough time to complete it successfully. The difference was he decided to complete his mission regardless, so he was late to the movie. Linda and I refused to be late. After Eclipse, Linda and I resumed our mission and headed back to the airport. This time, the right parking garage was open, so we were ecstatic and headed up to find my dad's car....only, we somehow ended up in the blue and brown section again. We were confused. We found a security guy who explained we went up the wrong ramp. I told Linda I knew we went up the right ramp, but whatever. So we paid another $2.00, followed his instructions (which lead us right back to where we had just ended up - saw a sign that even told us we were entering the Purple parking area) just to find ourselves back in the blue and brown section. We paid another $2.00 and did the whole airport tour for the 4th time. At some point, Linda wanted me to just leave her and she would walk to the alleged Purple section. I told her I would have felt better giving her to the security guard and letting him take her to it. She was not amused with the notion of me giving her away to a stranger. It wasn't like I was having him hog-tie her in the back of an unmarked vehicle. Besides...she wanted me to leave her in a plastic sectioned off construction area that looked like it was taken out of an episode of Dexter before he makes the kill. So, then Linda had a braniac idea that we needed to go into another section and we found the Purple People eater area and my father's car. Basically, his directions sucked. Basically, the airport's signs were misleading. Basically, $8.00 later plus the cost of storing my father's car for 24 hours, we were happily on our way. Well...to be fair, Linda was not so happy because she was incredibly nervous. I drove straight to Meliska and Greggy-D's house. Our friend Joe was in town and came over, too. We saw Law Abiding Citizen, which I had already seen, but didn't mind seeing again because it's that good! Afterwards, I headed up to work to take care of getting those cards for that helper. Blech.
Sunday...
I had such great plans for running, but I was up so late the night before and I was just plain lazy. Linda, Craig, and I decided to go back to Los Cucos for some lunch. Afterwards, we went to Red Box to rent movies. We got The Graves, Sherlock Holmes, and The Triangle. We came home and decided to watch them in that order. The Graves was the worst movie any of us has ever seen in our entire lives. At some point I wanted to turn it off, but Linda and Craig felt invested. Whatever. Right before we started Sherlock Holmes, which I had already seen, I got a work phone call. One of my drivers didn't unhook his trailer, though I had specifically told him to do so since he was merely transporting it from one office down to the other so that another driver could leave out with it. This driver, I knew, had taken his kids out of town for the weekend. The driver who called me was the one who needed to leave with the trailer, so I had no choice but to go back up to work AGAIN. I returned and let them finish Sherlock Holmes. Then we bantered back and forth on Facebook for a while and we watched The Triangle which actually turned out to be pretty good.
Monday...
I ran. It wasn't a great run. My allergies have been horrible. I, once again, started way too late in the morning and the air was way too thick with humidity. This little IT-band issue I'm having started acting up. I quit. Yep...I'm a quitter. I have 3 more Saturdays to get my act together before the big day. Ugh. Later that day...Linda and I grabbed a Sandwich from Lenny's (yummy) and rented Leap Year (cute, but predictable). Linda may have struggled a bit with Delilah during the day. You see, Delilah has great love for Linda and Linda doesn't return the love. Well, to be fair. Delilah has great love for anyone who doesn't return the love - her theory is that eventually you will give in and love her. So, after the love affair, Linda headed back home and I met up with Vicki and her fam to celebrate her birthday at Alicia's. I think I've had enough orders of double beans to hold me over for a while, y'all. =)
